Method and apparatus for treating yarn



March 18, 1941. D. w. LANCE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING YARN Filed June 3, 1938 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Ill Patented Mar. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING YARN Dotry Winslow Lance, Malbern, Ark., assignor of two-thirds to Samuel Pitman Rakestraw,

La Grange, Ga.

Application June 3, 1938, Serial No. 211,544

10 Claims.

The invention relates to a method of treating yarn impregnated with sizing as it is passed through a slashing machine preparatory to weaving and the invention relates to a brushing attachment to a slasher for practicing the method.

More specifically defined, the invention relates in its apparatus aspect to a machine for brushing the yarn after it has passed the squeeze rollers above the size pot to more or less separate the yarn and to smooth out the size on each strand of yarn before it is fed to the heating or slasher cylinders.

The ultimate object of the invention is to provide a smoother yarn with less loose projecting fibers than are produced at present, even in those cases where the yarn has been subjected to some kind of a brushing action while wet with the size.

Broadly, the invention features a peculiarity in the brushing action in that the brush engages the yarn while the yarn is held under tension in its engagement with the bristles of the brush, and in which the brushing action is in the same direction as the lineal travel of the yarn and the brush action is so timed that it is at a slower speed than the speed of the yarn. Differently expressed, the speed of the yarn past a rotating brush action thereon is greater than the peripheral speed of the brush.

The invention also features the subjecting of the yarn to the bushing action when the yarn is under a partially dry or rather less wet condition than is usual in such cases. The yarn is first squeezed to remove the surplus sizing as it comes off the squeeze rollers and fed through the slashers in the form of a ribbon or sheet comprising a large number of yarns, from one-to six or seven thousand ends, touching each other and stuck together by the size to form a solid sheet.

The method herein featured consists in subjecting this sheet to a brushing action at some material distance from the squeeze rollers and relatively close to the drying cylinders, thus providing sufiicient time lapse to permit the size remaining on the sheet to coagulate and act to stick the small fibres down at the ends to make a smoother and stronger type of yarn than can be produced by following conventional practices.

The invention particularly features the maintenance of a substantially uniform tensional pull on the yarn as it is being drawn along its path from the squeezing rollers, past the brush to the final drying or slasher cylinder, the subjecting of the yarn while being dried to the snubbing effect resulting from looping the yarn snugly about a large peripheral surface of a freely rotating smooth faced cylinder, the providing of a technique which permits the slasher to move at a faster speed than is usual under such devices now known, and incidental to this feature the invention contemplates the use of means for automatically taking up any slack which may mo- I mentarily form in the length of yarn immediately following the point where it is being brushed.

The invention also contemplates a simplified form of yarn feeding mechanism intergeared in a timed relation with a peripheral speed of the brush to insure the desired slightly faster travel of the yarn than the speed of the brush at its point, or, rather, area of engagement with the yarn and at the same time avoid the accumulation of the size on the necessary rollers engaging the yarn adjacent the brush. This aspect of the invention is attained by utilizing the slasher cylinder as the means for drawing the yarn as a whole and driving the associated rollers at a peripheral speed less than the lineal speed of the yarn past the same.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious from a consideration of the method features of the disclosure and from an inspection of the accompanying drawing and in part will be more fully set forth in the following particular description of one method of practicing the'invention, and the invention also consists in certain new'and novel modifications of the preferred method hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the drawing,

Fig. l is a View somewhat diagrammatic showing in side elevation an attachment to a slasher and illustrating a preferred-embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the driving mechanism for the several parts shown in Fig. 1.

In the drawing, there is shown a conventional form of slasher indicated symbolically by the frame I!) of the machine including a size pot ll above which is positioned the usual squeeze rollers I2 for squeezing the surplus sizing from the yarn Y before it is passed to the brushing and feeding devices herein featured and from which the yarn is-eventually passed about roller l3 to the warp beam not shown. Also following somewhat conventional practices, there is disclosed a large slasher cylinder l4 and a small slasher cylinder l5 disposed side by side and mounted for rotary movement respectively on their axles l6 and I1. Also following conventional practices, it will be understood that these cylinders are heated preferably by steam.

Both cylinders l4 and I5 are driven from a positive drive rod (not shown) or by the pull of the yarn from the warp-beam. In the more or less horizontal stretch of the yarn between the squeeze rollers I2 and its engagement with the upper side of the large slasher cylinder I 4, the path of the yarn is defined in' order successively by being passed over a holding roller 20 which holds the yarn to the underside of a cylindrical take-oil or guide roller 22 and hence under a tension regulator or slack take-up roller 23 to the cylinder H. The brush 2| is preferably providedrl vfvith animal bristles. Brush 2| is fixed to a brush. shaft 24 driven by pulley 25 fixed thereto and connected with pulley I! by means of a belt or chain drive 26. This driving connection regulates the speed of the brush relative to the speed of the power driven slasher cylinder I5 which is the means for drawing the yarn along,

its entire path from the size pot to the cylinder IS. A large main drive gear 21 is also fixed to the brush shaft and constitutes the power element of a train of roller actuating gears particularly shown in Fig. 2. Holding roller 20 is relatively small in diameter compared to the diameter of the brush and is mounted on a shaft 23 and gear 21 is in driving engagement with the roller 20 through a small pinion 23 meshing with the lower advance side of the main gear,

It will be understood from this direct intermeshing of the large main gear and small pinion that the brush and the roller are rotating in relatively reversed direction and at their points of engagement on oppositesides of the yarn are moving in the direction of travel of the yarn as indicated by the arrows adjacent the yarn. The take-oil or guide roller 22 is positioned just beyond the brush, is mounted on a guide roller shaft 30 and is driven by gear 3| mounted thereon through idler pinion 321 in mesh with main gear 21. It is seen from this structure that the guide roller is moving at its point of engagement with the yarn in the same direction as the yarn but at' a slower speed.

The slack take-up roller 23 is mountedon shaft 33 to which shaft is also secured a large sprocket 34. Shaft 33 is jdurnalled in the outer end of a reach arm 35, the other end of which is loosely mounted on the brush shaft 24. Chain 33 provides a driving connection between sprockets 34 and 31 secured to the brush shaft. From this construction, it is seen that the take-up roller is power driven from the brush shaft, which thus acts as a main shaft, and that the driving connection is maintained in all positions in which the take-up roller may swing in its arc of movement about the axis of the brush shaft as a center. The relatively slow peripheral speed of the small rollers 20, 22 and 23 acts to prevent the surplus size from accumulating on the rollers.

In operation it will be understood that the yarn is initially trained between the squeeze rollers l2 over the holding roller 20 and in its engagement with the underside of the brush is caused to be bent sharply aboutthe holding roller. In other words, the under peripheral surface of the rotating brush is below a plane tangent to the tops of the holding roller 20 and of the large slasher cylinder ll. The under surface of the take-oil or guide roller 22 is so disposed relative to the path of the yarn that it bears down gently on top of the yarn without materially changing its otherwise straight direction of travel on to the upper surface of the slasher cylinder l4.

With reference to the take-up roller 23, it will be appreciated that it engages the upper side of the yarn and, of -course, exerts some depressive effect thereon by virtue of the weight of the roller and associated parts at the outer ends of the vertically swinging reach arm 35. This weight is sufiicient to fall with any slack in the part of the yarn engaged thereby but, of course,

is not so heavy as would impose any tension on the yarn beyond what is intended.

From this take-up roller the yarn is passed :over and about the perimeter of the large slasher cylinder I 4, under the same and hence in an s-shaped curve over and under the small cylinder from which it is taken off conventionally on to a large spool or warp beam past the roller l3. In the way the yarn after it has been brushed is subjected to a two-step drying operation when the yarn is substantially dry, as it leaves the small slasher cylinder.

It is also noted that the brush is disposed in the space between and above the slasher cylinders and thus in a position to be exposed to the heat escaping from both of the slasher cylinders. In this way, the yarn is being dried at least to a limited extent while being subjected to the brushing operation. It is a feature of this disclosure that the point of brushing of the wet yarn is remote from the squeeze rollers I2 and relatively close to the first slasher cylinder II. In this way the size remaining on the yarn after it has passed the squeeze rollers is permitted to penetrate into the yarnfor a period of time before the yarn is subjected to the rapidly succeeding brushing and drying operations. .If the brush and its associated rollers are set too close to the squeeze rollers, or what amounts to the same thing, too far from the heating cylinders, the brush and rollers quickly become loaded with a gummy substance from the yarn. There must be a material length of an exposed gap in the yarn travel between the squeeze rollers and the brush in order to obtain the best result without gumming the rollers or brush.

The take up floating roller 23 will normally be approximately in the full line positions shown in both figures and usually will not drop any material distance below the path of the yarn as shown in Fig. 1. In the showing in Fig. 2, the take up roller 23 and its associated driving connection is shown in ghost outline lowered to swing the axis of the take-up roller along an are 33 and for a material distance below the normal yarn path simply to avoid confusion in superposing drawing lines.

The bristles of the brush form a rather compact, cylindrical surface with the bristle ends forming in effect a densely dotted surface contacting with the yarn sheet so that a large number of the bristle ends contact each unit length of the yarn sheet to effectively lay the loose projecting fibres even though the actual brush speed is slower than that of the yarn.

- While there have been shown, described and pointed out in the annexed claims, certain novel features of the invention, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claimi 1. In a machine for slashing yarn, the combination of means forming a yarn path and comprising in order a roller for engaging one side of the yarn, and a. brush engaging the opposite side of the yarn and acting to push the yarn against the roller, two slasher cylinders arranged side and side for rotation about their respective axis and disder being of less diameter than the first cylinder and located beneath the brush and its associated roller for heating the same and for heating the yarn as it passes the brush, the cylinders being power driven and acting to draw the yarn along its path, under tension-driving means between said second cylinder and the brush to rotate the brush at a peripheral speed less than that of the lineal travel of the yarn past the same under the pulling efl'ect of said second cylinder and a driving connection between the brush and roller to cause the peripheral speed of the roller to be less than that of the yarn as it passes the rollers.

2. In a slasher, the combination of means defining a yarn path and including in order a rotating brush and an associated roller for holding the yarn therebetween in contact with the brush, said brush and roller being intergeared to rotate in relatively opposite directions, a roller normally resting on the yarn and acting automatically to take up slack therein, and a slasher cylinder, an interdriving connection between the slasher cylinder and the brush for causing the yarn to have a speed past the brush greater than the speed of the brush at its line of contact with the yarn and an interdriving connection between the brush and take-up roller for causing both the brush and take-up roller at their lines of contact with the yarn to move in the direction of movement of the yarn.

3. In a slasher, the combination with means defining a yarn path and including in sequential order a rotating brush and an associated roller for holding the yarn in contact with the brush, an oscillatory roller to take up slack in the yarn, and two slasher cylinders, of a shaft for driving the brush, an arm pivoted to the axis of rotation of the brush for guiding the take-up roller in an arc across the path of the yarn, a driving connection between the brush shaft andithe take-up roller in all operative positions of the latter, a driving connection between the brush shaft and one oi the slasher cylinders, and a driving connection driven from the brush'shaft for driving the holding roller in a counter rotary direction from that of the brush.

4. In aslasher, the combination or means forming a yarn path and including a relatively small roller underlapping the yarn and a relatively large cylindrical brush overlapping the yarn and in close juxtaposition to the roller to cause the yarnto be bent sharply as the yarn passes from the upper side of the roller beneath the brush, a slasher cylinder over which the yarn is trained as it passes away from the brush, a second slasher cylinder below the brush and overlapped by the yarn as it is fed off the lower side of the first named cylinder, power means interconnecting the second cylinder and the brush, and means including a power driven floating roller engaging the stretch of yarn between the brush and the therollertocausotheyarntobebcntsharplyover the roller and under the brush as the yarn passes from the upper side of the roller beneath the brush, a slasher cylinder over which the yarn is trained as-it passes away from the brush, a second slasher cylinder below the brush and overlapped by the yarn as it is fed ofi the lower side of the first named cylinder and power means interconnecting the second cylinder and the brush for driving the brush at a peripheral speed less than the speed of the yarn as it moves past the brush.

6. In a slasher, the combination of a. main shaft, a cylindrical brush, a main gear, a sprocket and a. pulley all secured to the main shaft, a pair of pinions in mesh with the main gear, a pair of rollers, one driven from each of said pair of pinions, a take-up roller mounted to swing about the axis of the brush shaft and provided with a driving sprocket, a driving connection between the sprockets for driving the take-up roller from the main shaft and power means engaging the pulley to rotate the brush and said three rollers in a prefixed timed relation.

7. In a machine for slashing yarn, the combination in order with a brush, a take-01f roller for removing the yarn from the brush, a slasher cylinder for receiving the yarn from the take-01f roller, of a slack take-up roller between the take-01f roller and the cylinder, and power means for driving the brush, the take-oil roller and the take-up roller rotating all in the same rotary direction and at preset relative speeds.

8. In a slasher, the combination of means defining a yarn path: and including a. cylindrical brush for brushing the yarn in its direction of travel and a plurality of rollers of smaller diameter than the brush and engaging the yarn with the engaging portions thereof moving in the direction of movement of the yarn, means coupling the brush and rollers in a power driven relation, and a pair of slasher cylinders about which the yarn is trained after it passes the rollers, means coupling the last of said two cylinders with the brush and constituting a means acting on the yarn to draw the same past the brush and rollers at a speed greater than the peripheral speeds of the brush and rollers.

9. In a slasher, the combination of a holding roller, and a slasher cylinder adapted to have a length of yarn trained over the tops thereof, a cylindrical brush having its lower side below a plane tangent to the tops of said roller and cylinder. 9. take-oi! roller having its underside below said plane for pressing gently on the upper side of the yarn as it moves between the brush and cylinder, means for drawing the yarn past the brush, past the take-oi! roller and on to the slasher cylinder, a floating roller free to bear by virtue of its weight on the portion of the yarn between the brush and cylinder to take up slack in the yarn before it is passed on to the cylinder, and means for rotating said floating roller in all operative positions of the same and at a peripheral speed less than that of the yarn as it passes the same.

10. In a machine for slashing yarn, the combination in order of a brush, a slasher cylinder 5 for receiving-yarn from the brush, a slack take-up roller between the brush and cylinder and power means. for driving the brush and the take-uproller rotating all in the same rotary direction and at preset relative speeds.

DOTRY WINSLOW LANCE. 

